Circular urban area development; Myth or reality?

Abstract

Context: As a result of the human behavior of the past century, in which linear approaches were used, we’re facing environmental challenges due to global warming. Since the awareness of climate change, planning departments are focusing on sustainable development in which the social, economic and environmental dimensions are combined. In the Netherlands, the naturally polluting building industry is designated as one of the critical sectors that need to change to a more circular way of working. In 2050 the Dutch government wants to be 100% circular. Circular urban area development can contribute to the achievement of these goals. Objective: This research aims to define the concept of circular urban area development by identifying and explaining the factors of circular urban area development and the management tools that can be used to apply them in Dutch practice. The research question that is answered: “What are the factors that contribute to the development of a circular urban area and how can these factors be managed in practice?”. These findings are summarized in a circular urban area development guideline. Methods: This research is divided in two parts. First, a literature review is done providing an overview of the physical components of a circular urban area development. Second, the circular urban area development factors and their management tools are investigated by conducting explorative interviews, case study analysis and an expert panel. Results: To define the concept of circular urban area development the concept of ‘adaptable buildings’ by Brand (1994) can be combined with the ecosystem approach of van Bueren (2012) creating an overview of the physical components of a circular urban area: (1) adaptable buildings (2) public space and (3) industrial flows: energy, water and materials. Further findings state that sustainable urban area development is closely related to circular urban area development. In the Randstad area, urban areas are being redeveloped because of the housing shortage. In these developments the concept of circularity is used as a condition for sustainable development. When special focus is set on implementing circularity, the development can be called a circular urban area development. Conclusions: Out of this theoretical and empirical research, six factors of circular urban area development can be distinguished that can be divided into two different cycles: building -and use-cycle. In the building-cycle the focus is on the lifecycles of building components and materials that are log and have long lifecycles. In the use-cycle the focus is on resources and products used on a daily-basis by the inhabitants of the urban area. These resources are characterized as volatile and have short life-cycles. The factors that are part of building-cycle are: (1) circular building material cycle and (2) spatially adaptive urban area. The factors that are part of the use-cycle are: (3) efficient energy system, (4) closed water-system (5) re-use, collection and logistics of waste and (6) stimulating the local economy. Applying these six factors in Dutch practice can be organized by the use of different management instruments. For every factor several possible management instruments found that make it possible to apply these factor in Dutch practice. These management instruments can be divided into four different groups: (1) legal instruments, (2) organizational instruments, (3) financial incentives and (4) design tools.